The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-10
PRINCE EsTERHAzYs BIG STORIES.
They are About His Remarkable Sue
cess in India Shooting Tigers.
From the San Francisco Eran,in,

They are bout His Remarkable Sue
cess in India Shooting Tigers.
From the San Francisco Examiner.
Standing in the court at the Palace Hotel
last night and listening to the music of the
band, che celebrated Austrian Prince, Louis
Esterhazy, as he smoked his cigar, told a
reporter of some remarkable personal adj
ventures in tigar-hunting in the jungles of
India.
''It was in 49," said the royal Hungarian,
that l set off entirely alone to enjoy this
sport BY saying alone | do not mean that,
but I had with me no Europeans, nobody
but native Indian hunters, who are there
called shikaraes. They are very skillfull
tiger hunters, and know where they may
soonest be found. | went far into the inte-
rior of Central India, away from even the
remotest outposts of civilization, and right
into the jungles where the fiercest of them
were. / was connected in AN important
way with the Austrian government, but on
account of the fascination of the sport,
fraught as it was with unusual danger, L
chose to go entirely unattended by any but
the shikaraes. 't'}'iI sm b1.
"Tiger-hunting in India is best carried on
by batting with cattle, SO TOOK a drove of
forty with me. A band of some thirty of
the natives was started three weeks in adj
and wherever a good spot was found one of
the shikaraes dropped out with certain
number of the cattle to await my coming.
In this way was enable to hunt in the
widest sections. The cattle were tied one
by one to trees in the jungle in the margin
of a circle sometimes as much as five miles
across. They were placed there at night.
The tigers came forth at night to seek their
prey, and, finding the cattle, leaped upon,
laA HQuOl1rad thpU
to, and went their way. Much of this coun-
tryi low and wet, and tigers could easily
be tracked in the soft soil by the expert ma
tive Indians. Following the track each sue
cessive morning after hating, we would
come upon and shoot them.
SIN this way, in eleven months, with but
single gun. myself killed nineteen tigers.
This is the best record made in India in
eighteen years had very big rife, what
is known as an eight-bal gun, carrying
twelve drachms of powder. With this an
expert is able to bring down even the largest
tiger easily, and sometimes by a single shot
But the sportsman must be as quick as light
ming, for no sooner does one of these wild
animals see you, even though he may be
surfeited with food, than he will leap for
you with all the quickness imaginable, and
if you do not make sure work of it you are
gone. The first two or three times, when
undergoing these experiences, it made me
somewhat nervous, for fear | would not
make a centre shot, but in time got more
confidence. | speak now of hunting tigers
on foot, as / was doing. This is the most
dangerous way, but it is more fascinating. L
several times went off into the jungle en-
tirely alone, and hunting in this way had
number of narrow escapes.
'On one occasion | was tracking tiger,
and was raising my gun to shoot, having
come upon it suddenly, when / was startled
by the deep growl and rapid tread of an
other coming upon me, | was so hard pressed
that, after shooting one, had to flee for my
life, and only just escaped by climbing a
tree. In the eleventh months many times
slept out alone in dismal jungle, with only
my blanket to keep off the rain' suppose |
underwent many such an experience, so far
al. exposure is concerned, as your Americans
trapper and miner did in earlier and more
dangerous days.
another way to hunt tigers is to do so
shooting from elephants or camels When
this is done smaller rife is generally used.
l hunted principally as much as 200 or 500
miles away from the furthest outpost.
| had a regular caravan of elephants, shikar-
| aes, tents and various equipage, but, wan
| dering away by myself, | was forced to
rough it and endure hardships which /
hardly anticipated This was the case when
for quite long period all my servants got
sick with fever. / shot more and bigger
tigers during the rainy months. In ten
days in July | got five tigers and a panther,
A tiger always come from a hill and goes
back to hill He will not stay long on low
ground. Usually three or four at least of a
hunting party are killed before the season is
over. You will understand, therefore,
what good fortune we had in escaping loss
of life
81 also had quite an interesting expert
ence in hunting the buffalo or bison of India
This bison is much larger and a great deal
fiercer than the American bison. He has
the same fought, bullet-proof forehead, and
great hump ON his shoulders, but does not
have the long, thick, f1aring name. His feet
are white as high up as the knee and shank
You wound one of these buffaloes and as soon
as he sees you, no matter how bad he is hurt,
he will make for you. He come with head
down to gore you, and he means to kill you.
There is no other animal with more ferocity
or that means more danger to the hunter.
Their horns are something stupendous. |
hunted buffalo at Assam, on the Brahama-
pootra river, between Burmah and Thibet
| killed ferocious COW there that [ had
first wounded, and which in consequence
came very near killing me, whose horns
were of the enormous length of six feet.
1.-THE tigers of India, although very for
midable, are not as large as generally sup
posed. They are generally said to weigh
about 1000 pounds each, but | think few Of
them reach that. The average weight
found IN he about 60Q rnr1s2S y